It’s the middle of the summer, and I’m just getting around to writing how I survived my first year of medical school because I needed some time to catch my breath. Medical school was exactly what I thought it would be…times 10! I have learned so much this year, and I’m sure my brain has a thousand new little grooves from all the connections I’ve formed. I’m excited to share with you 10 simple rules I have come up with that helped me survive medical school year one!
1. Raise your hand
The first lesson I learned in my first year of medical school was to raise my hand. No one likes embarrasing themselves, and saying the wrong answer in a room full of really smart people can be truly intimidating. Between my classmates and my professors, the IQ in a room at any given time has an average of 200+ it seems. Science has never been my strong suit, and it’s definitely been a subject that I’ve had to work really hard at. Being surrounded by people who seem to just inhale the material was nerve racking.
On the first day of medical school, we took a tour of the simulation hospital with one of our toughest professors (unbeknownst to me at the time). She was asking questions about the equipment and PPE (personal protective equipment), gauging our knowledge on the information. I could have let fear keep me from answering those question, but one thought kept nagging at me – what if I knew the answer?
I never pass up an opportunity to shine, but in medical school, the chance of shining came with a huge risk of looking dull…if you allow it. Instead, I decided to look at these opportunities as chances for me to extend my learning. I would either be right, and validate what I knew, or I would be wrong and learn the right answer. Looking at my learning from this view helped give me the confidence to raise my hand for the rest of the year.
Whenever a question was asked, and I thought I knew the answer or could at least give it a good shot in the dark, I would raise my hand and speak up. This helped me gain some confidence and develop relationships with my professors.
2. Don’t look at the top of the mountain
In one of my first anatomy classes, my professor told me don’t look at the top of the mountain when you’re at the base. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed by the thoughts of residency and future jobs. I know that I am a 15 year planner, and I had quite the bumpy road getting into medical school. I very much believe that some mistakes you don’t have to make twice, and I did not want getting into residency to be anything like getting into medical school. Instead, I want to feel good about my application and confident in it.
In planning out how I was going to attack this, I found myself traveling 4 years into the future, worrying about things like board exams on the first day. Although it’s important to be aware of our future goals, it’s also important to take things day by day. When we get too ahead of ourselves, it’s easy to trip over what’s right in front of us. I made the mistake of thinking so much about what medical school would be like, I didn’t do what I needed to in undergrad to even get in. Her words spoke to me because they helped me remember to cross that bridge when I get there. But until then, one foot in front of the other and everything will be okay.
3. Two L’s equal a W
If you make an L with each of your hands and put them together, what to you make? A W for win baby, that’s right! This is a funny thing I came up with to help me remember that L’s are going to be more frequent and more often than Ws. However, those L’s are lessons, not losses, and all of those lessons will add up to a huge win. When I make mistakes, I just learn new ways to not get where I want to be. Those mistakes also give me lots of material to write for you all.
Don’t be so ashamed or afraid of Ls that you don’t go out on a limb or take chances. Everyone who takes a leap of faith knows that sometimes, you’re going to fall on your face. However, the times you don’t are filled with so much satisfaction. My secret to how I survived my first year of medical school is to take your L’s in stride and use them to fuel you, and teach you. You will be all the better for it!
4. Make new friends
When I first started medical school, I was nervous to make friends. I know that I’m a socialite, I like to have fun, and I can get distracted from what’s important. I also heard horror stories about other medical schools and how their students sabotaged one another. Although my school is much more collaborative than competitive, I knew we had rankings, and that was important to me. So I came in with the idea that I was not going to be overly social.
However, there was no way that I could have survived my first year of medical school without making new friends. COVID put a lot of restrictions on who I could make friends with, but we were all divided into learning communities which made meeting people much easier. We did things together like Friendsgiving and movie nights. After some of the COVID restrictions lifted, I started hanging with other students in different learning communities. They have turned out to be some of the greatest people I could have met because not only are they fun, but they also understand how crazy being a medical student is. It’s truly the best of both worlds.
5. And keep the old
As I’ve made new medical school friends, there’s no way that I could forget my friends prior to medical school. However, there was a point in time when I felt sort of neglected by my old friends. We didn’t talk on the phone as much, I clearly couldn’t hang out with them anymore, and our relationship seemed to be diminishing. And although some relationships did fade because they were only meant for a certain season, others simply were put on the backburner.
As I thought more about my changing relationships, feelings of resentment and sadness floated away as I came to the realization that we are all entering new phases of our lives. We are all busy trying to move up in our careers, finish school, start families, and just survive this crazy ride called life. Whenever my friends and I talk on the phone or catch up in one another’s cities, it’s all love. True friendship is able to withstand the stressors of life, such as medical school. Keeping this in mind, and remembering who your true friends are, you can nurture these friendships through phone calls, trips, and other ways to connect.
6. Be prepared for everything, especially life
I have learned that being prepared is probably the number one thing that helped me survive my first year of medical school. Being prepared means making sure I did my pre-reading, got ahead on homework and assignments, and had a general idea of what was going on before walking into a room. The weeks when I utilized none of my weekend and walked in on Monday unprepared were the worst. I would be so lost and behind, adding to my stress and anxiety.
Walking into meetings unprepared was the worst too because I would have no solid base. This meant that my professors or advisors could add so many suggestions that my idea was lost in the mud. I would leave the meetings frustrated and feeling as if everyone’s time had been wasted.
By preparing ahead of time, I was able to be more engaged in the lectures. I could also ask questions while I had the professor there in the room with me. I could use independent study time as that, instead of time to try and re-learn what we had already covered in lecture.
In meetings, when I would walk in with a solid plan of exactly what I wanted to do, what I wanted the meeting to cover, I felt like we all walked out of the meeting feeling good and with a plan. As I get ready to go into year two, organization is going to be my best friend. I have a new planner and calendars, and although it sounds like micromanaging, it helps me manage my schedule so I can make enough time to be prepared, as well as do everything that I want to do.
When life happens…
I once laid out all of my research projects for a professor, and she told me, “Just remember that sometimes life happens. Life seems to happen more to women than anyone else. In all of your plans, you may have to deal with something.” Life hit me really hard this year with the passing of my grandma. She was my number one fan and told everyone that I was going to be a doctor. She passed right before a really big exam, and I had to pick myself up and finish the rest of the semester. Nothing prepares you for something like that. But, being prepared for life to happen can be just as beneficial.
Plan out your schedule, but be flexible. It’s okay if a phone call lasts so long it infringes on study time. It’s okay if someone has an emergency that takes you out for a few days. The point of being prepared and having a schedule is to give you a base, not a cage. Sometimes life is going to happen, and that’s just the way it is. As a medical student, you’ll never be able to prepare for it, but mentally, just put yourself in a space to accept life in stride and keep moving forward.
7. Take care of yourself, especially minority spokespersons
The only way I survived my first year of medical school was by taking care of myself. Medical school, on its own, is a beast that can consume your entire life. However, you can’t pour from an empty cup. If you don’t take care of yourself, then you won’t feel good mentally or physically. These two aspects interplay as your mental affects your physical, and vice versa. Set aside time to reset and relax. This can include watching your favorite show, exercising, and doing hobbies. Medical school is always going to be there, and you will always have something to do. So you will have to decide to forgo medical school for an hour or two a day, or a few hours a week, to take care of your mental state.
The minority tax
This is especially important if you are a minority student. As minorities in spaces where there are so few of us (4 Black students in my class…) it can be draining to feel so misunderstood by everyone around you. Even though medical school is essentially tough for everyone, being a minority means life just looks different for you in general. Add medical school on top of that and it’s amazing how much we are still functioning. Not only do you not have a community that understands you culturally, you also turn out to be the minority spokesperson.
Unfortunately, medicine is an area with very few allies. If minorities are not pushing the idea of diversity, then it goes unheard of. It’s exhausting to not only be responsible for your own wellbeing and academic excellence, but everyone else’s who looks like you too. This is also known as the minority tax.
If you are a minority, stand up for the things that you personally care about. But don’t feel like you have the weight of the world on your back. Put yourself first, and fight the good fight as you please. Don’t wear yourself out trying to overhaul a system that was upside down long before either of us was ever here.
8. Stay in your lane
As I mentioned earlier, there are so many intelligent individuals in medical school. Add on to that the anxiety and lack of confidence that ripples through the class, and it can be so easy to get caught up in the comparison trap. Comparison is the thief of joy. This couldn’t ring any more true in a program like medical school. Right before exams, you have a mix of students. There are those that have studied the whole time and covered the material five or six times. You also have those who mess around until the last second and somehow find a way to get it together. Then you’ve got those that work hard the whole time and either get it or don’t get it.
I fall in the middle, and glory to God, have gotten it my first year. But not without having to remind myself to stay in my own lane. There are always the students who swear they are failing, with all the tears and the theatrics, but walk out with straight A’s. There are also the students who seem to fail every exam. At the end of the day, it’s impossible to know where you are. So you just have to stay in your lane. You are your only competition. You have to remember that everyday or you will get swallowed up in your own doubt and imposter syndrome.
9. Shoot for the top – in class and life
As you’re preparing for medical school, you may see that many medical schools are on a pass/fail grading system. My school has an honors system as well for those who finish the class with a 90 or above. A lot of my classmates say “I’m just trying to pass” or “7-o equals D.O.”. While both of these things ring true, I have a hard time shooting for the bare minimum. I shoot for an honors in every class because “if you shoot for the moon and miss, you’ll land above the stars.”
I may not get honors, but I know that by giving myself that goal, I have to put in that amount of work. Therefore, I set really high goals to give myself some wiggle room. I understand that grades aren’t everything, and that I need to do well enough to pass. But I don’t ever want my grades to be the thing holding me back from getting into the residency programs of my choice.
At the same time, everyone will have good grades. Graduating medical school is a task in itself. Therefore, programs know that everyone who finishes medical school is smart and capable. Therefore you have to have something to set you apart. When I say shoot high in life, I mean go after projects that truly mean something to you. I do well in school, but I also leave time to go after the projects that mean a lot to me. I know that in addition to my grades, research and passion projects will bolster my application. It’s also brings me joy to do those projects because they are things I’m really interested in.
Go after your grades, but also go after the things that make you happy!
10. Remember your why
My most important rule is to remember your why. Medical school is so difficult, and there are a million things you can do in this world to help people. You have to really love this stuff to make it through the hard days. If you don’t love it, then you will quit and burnout. You may also resent medical school, wasting a lot of time and money. Burnout can take a huge toll on your mental health.
Take a few moments to reflect on you why everyday. You can write your why out on a piece of paper or on a board so you view it all the time. Maybe your why changes over time. However, just knowing it helps you remember that this process is not just about you. Healthcare is about other people, not you. A professor told us that someone is out there right now getting sick, and that we are the one who will treat them.
This process is so much bigger than you. If you can think about someone other than yourself, then that may be the driver that pushes you through.
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